Almost without anyone noticing, John Powell has built up an impressive list of credits, from modern animated gems such as Shrek and Chicken Run, to some variably good action movies, the remake of The Italian Job (far better than people would like to admit, even in comparison to the original) and of course, the first film featuring Jason Bourne, The Bourne Identity. In the follow up, The Bourne Supremacy, Matt Damon confirms his credentials as a strong, but believable action hero, much more so than his chum Ben Affleck who is really far better as a cocky everyman than a stoic man of action. Although Paul Greengrass replaces Doug Liman in the director's chair, The Bourne Supremacy is not appreciably different in tone or quality to the first and for my money, one of the most genuinely thrilling thrillers of the summer.

Despite my relatively glowing comments about John Powell above, a quick glance at my review of Identity doesn't really rate it as a favourite Powell score. However, Supremacy is a considerable improvement. Evidently his fine work on The Italian Job and, in particular his knock out action score to Paycheck (another Affleck dud) have rubbed off and the balance between the acoustic and synthetic here is much more refined. The most notable improvement over Identity is the better in track architecture, the feeling that the music is going somewhere either dramatically or in terms of momentum. This is no better demonstrated than in Berlin Foot Chase or To the Roof where Powell builds from fairly simple ideas and ratchets up the tension, most impressively with some wild string figures toward the end of Berlin Foot Chase. However, Powell doesn't always use the orchestra to simply bounce around energetically in time to the percussion, but uses it as a form of ornamentation, especially good in Moscow Wind Up which uses little string slurs to great effect.

Bim Bam Smash is the film's blow out car chase and Powell is unafraid to increase the beats per minute and slightly subvert the role of the acoustic instruments to start with, but allowing them to work their way in. First as short inserts for the occasional dramatic pause to full Bondian brass swagger for the breathless finale. A little electric guitar gets in on the act too, but this is far from the cheesy 80s rock sound of Trevor Rabin and works remarkably well. It's overkill by the end, but it's earned by this point and Atonement makes for a quiet and reflective coda. There isn't much time for gentleness elsewhere, but an early highlight is Funeral Pyre which has a genuine emotive pull, at least in comparison to the quiet moments of most thriller scores. Extreme Ways, performed by Moby, closes the album and is a perfect appendix to Powell's score, plus is pertinent to the themes of the film. If only all end credit songs were this good and well chosen. You could argue that it's a touch repetitive and doesn't extend his range as a composer, but Supremacy is still a fine action score, genuinely thrilling and easy to recommend.

Original Motion Picture SoundtrackMusic Composed by John Powell (The Bourne Identity, The Italian Job, Shrek)

Following the smash worldwide success of 2002's The Bourne Identity, Universal Pictures brings the second installment of best-selling author Robert Ludlum`s series to the screen with Matt Damon returning as trained assassin Jason Bourne in The Bourne Supremacy.

The Bourne Supremacy re-enters the shadowy world of expert assassin Bourne (Damon), who continues to find himself plagued by splintered nightmares from his former life. The stakes are now even higher for the agent as he coolly maneuvers through the dangerous waters of international espionage - replete with CIA plots, turncoat agents and ever-shifting covert alliances - all the while hoping to find the truth behind his haunted memories and answers to his own fragmented past.

Compelling use of exotic worldwide locations and the muscular cinematic edge brought by vanguard director Paul Greengrass maintains the aggressive style and fresh, non-traditional perspective established in The Bourne Identity. The Bourne Supremacy is the latest entry in a refreshingly new breed of that time-honored genre, the espionage thriller.

Composer John Powell, returns to the land of Ludlum for this thrilling sequel. Powell scored yet another hit with The Italian Job. Both The Bourne Identity and The Italian Job spawned best-selling soundtrack albums. Prominently featured in the film and also included on this CD will be a new song called Extreme Ways performed by Moby.